Why We Do It

Richard Harrison's Artist's Statement:

In all of my paint work I try to capture a feeling of wholeness that seems embedded in the universe. I am intrigued by how the impressionists resonated with atmosphere and light and form and moved away from using hard edges in their paintings. While I was studying scene painting at North Carolina School for the arts I learned a style of large scale painting done by spattering translucent layers of paint in a way that was similar to the way impressionists used pointillism, or pixel like brush strokes, to create vibrating fields of color when seen at a distance. I have taken to using sponges and sponge rollers to try to recreate a similar effect. My preferred way of working with paint harmonizes with the way I see the world. There is wonderful variation in the universe. When you pick up a rock or hold a fallen tree leaf or have a conversation with a friend you realize how they are one of a kind. The uniqueness of each thing in nature is wonderful in itself but it’s also interesting that so often those individual elements or people make up collective organisms like trees or mountains or communities of people and that those groups have their own unique quality. And those bodies in turn make up whole forests, mountain ranges and regions made of divergent elements that make a beautiful whole. This is what I hope to explore in my paint work. In doing so I often try to connect and involve groups of artists and neighborhoods to work collaboratively work towards public art that reflects this ongoing thread of an idea that unique and beautiful individuals form unique and beautiful communities. My hope is that by calling this reality to attention that people may be reminded of their value as individuals and groups and try to live out those ideas.

This is my artist’s statement and hopefully I can post what my colleagues feel about why they do their artwork in the near future. We come from a variety of life experiences and we have different strengths and weaknesses but as a group our greatest strength is in each individual being their best unique expression of themselves and as individuals our greatest strength is the group that we lean on for support and solidarity!

We love to connect with the arts community in Omaha and beyond and we hope to grow our circle to embrace many more folks, both in our daily brief encounters and in our life long partnerships.